Earlier this morning, I shared my usual Thursday art and music edition, so if you’re looking for it then click here. In the past I’ve done Kat’s Writing Workshop in the same post but I felt it’s time to break the mold and give it its own space, so please continue reading. Today, I’m going to share with you my childhood neighborhood thanks to this week’s writing prompt.
I grew up in southern West Virginia. Coal mining was a way of life for my family and it was just about the only occupation most men knew in those parts. Before I started first grade, my parents moved from our three room house to a mansion. Alright, that’s a stretch but it had double the number of rooms. The house my daddy bought once was housing provided by a coal mines. I’m not sure how that worked but the homes looked a like. I took the liberty of doing a screen capture of my childhood neighborhood today using Google aerial view. Below you can move the up/down arrows to see the aerial with and without text. You’ll find a legend beneath the image in caption.
As you can see my house, Robbie, & Anita’s houses are close together. Off the main road, you turn onto what looks like a drive way that leads to all the homes and basically it does. We kids called this “The Alley”. The kids of the alley included me, Robbie, Anita, Les Anita’s older brother, and Ty. I first met Robbie and Anita in kindergarten.
In the summer, we spent most of our waking hours outdoors in the alley, playing softball, tag, hide n’ seek, shot hops, rode bikes, or explored the hillside. Although, my friends or I never saw for ourselves, my baby brother declared dinosaurs lived in the hills. What an imagination! We stayed out until it grew dark with our parents yelling from the door that it was time to come in. Sometimes, on the weekend we were privileged to set up camp in a friend’s tent. It first started with the older boys, then we girls got in on things when her parents got her a two person tent. It was exciting to sleep outside. Occasionally the boys would pitch their tent in another friend’s yard and we always put Anita’s up in her yard, then during the night we’d take turn spying on the other. Frequently, the boys tried spooking us. We’d tell ghost stories by flashlight and sometimes make shadow puppets on the tent wall. At the start of the new day, the sun sleepily rose in the sky with the glisten of dew resting across the lawn. With the blades of grass damp against our toes, the refreshing cooler morning air sent us scampering indoors for breakfast. I liked eating at Anita’s house because her mom made different things than mine.
We never got bored. There was always something to do. We became the inventor of games and ways to entertain ourselves for hours and hours.
Growing up in a rural community there really was a sense of closeness. You didn’t have the near the worries that something horrible would happen to you and if I wanted to walk to one of the stores to get something for my mom or just to buy a bottle of pop then it was quite safe to do so. There were two small general stores, Steve’s and the Baker Brothers, as you can see in the photo. They had a little bit of everything. In the early 70s, many neighborhood business offered store credit. I frequently remember mom sending me to get a few things and the store owners would just add it to a tab, then once a month my folks paid it off. If I ever bought anything like candy, pop, or ice cream then I was often given a few coins to get something but that wasn’t too often and it was a real treat when I could.
The first grade school I attended was across the creek from my folks. It was about a 5 minute walk if that. I remember walking to school with Robbie and Anita. We’d cross the bridge going toward the post office. There was a footpath on the other side of the bridge that ran along the creek providing a shortcut to school. We walked that way regularly. I wanted to see what’s in the building now but Google didn’t offer a street view. I attended grades 1-4 there before the school district closed it and bused us to a nearby junior high that had grades 5 and 6. The change was both exciting and scary.
My neighborhood had a gas station and post office. Roger’s was a full service station. He pumped the gas, checked the oil, so forth. Inside, he had a tiny store with snack foods and outside there was an old-fashion soda pop machine that dispensed glass bottled drinks. If you’re old enough, then you know what I’m talking about.
Roger’s was located at the fork of the main road and a secondary road that we referred to as the holler. It was a great place for the school bus to turn around as the driver picked up and dropped off kids each day. In the winter months, the kids who arrived at the bus stop would crowd into the store front to keep warm near his wood burning stove. He was a nice man.
I remember on super cold mornings watching for that big yellow bus to appear at the top of Mine Hill through my folks living room window facing Mine Hill and at first sight, I high tailed it out the door running like a streak of blue light. Usually, I was out of breathe by the time I climbed onto the bus. I rarely missed it and the driver always waited if he saw me. He was a nice fella, too.
One thing I loved about the nights when I was a kid I could hear the distant call of the train across the river. Usually as it got closer to our home the steel wheels rumble the track. From my friend, Elaine’s home you could see the train track from the water’s edge.
Another thing I loved, in my preteen and teen years I spent a lot of time with my uncle Roger and his wife, Carol. They lived in a trailer just across the road from my parents. I got to listen to a lot of their music and Carol would teach me dance moves. They’d let me spend the night with them. We’d play cards until late in the night. The first card game I learned was Gin Rummy and that’s what we played. Those were some fun days.
There really were a lot of things I loved about my childhood and neighborhood. I have many fond memories from that period about the people and events I shared my life. A place and time to kindle my heart which I pray never slips my mind.
I’ll be back for Monday’s Music Moves Me with end of summer or back to school songs spinning on my virtual turntable and I’m inviting you to hit the dance floor with me! X💋X💋, Cathy